The End Of the Beginning
by katyacohen007
Summary: After the battle of Camlaan, Morgana's armies are fleeing. Merlin makes a huge mistake. One that will change the course of Albion forever. Are these consequences bad or are they creating the dawn of a new era? Post Diamond of the Day Part 2 but without Morgana's or Arthur's deaths.
1. Prologue

**Hey everyone, **

**This is my first fan fiction, so if you could please, please leave a review! Hope you guys like it! **

Prologue

A deeply pregnant woman climbed up the perilous steep to the Four Elements Mountain. Had she not been a sorceress she would have not made it halfway up he mountain, for the mountain, hence the name, was magical. It was the original birthplace of magic. Yes, the crystal cave was where magic began, but what most people did not know was that the crystal cave was not needed by someone it moved back to its original spot, at the top of this mountain. The raven haired woman felt another contraction coming on and clenched her teeth. She was almost there if she could just reach it! Panting, and with no strength left she laid down at the opening of the cave.

_Why did she think it was a good place to give birth anyway_? She moaned. With another contraction coming she rolled her head to the side, seeing a crystal, she moaned again. She was a seer, making the vision in the crystal all the more clearer. The pain was too much with the contractions, and the visions coming and going. The clenched her teeth together biting down on her tongue, until she could taste the blood. She knew it was time. She held her breath and pushed until she could hear a cry. Too tired to even see the gender of the baby, she closed her eyes.  
A familiar flap of wings, flapped and then landed gracefully, near the entrance of the cave. It was her last and only faithful friend, the white dragon. Drifting into unconsciousness, she finally rested knowing she an her newborn would now be safe from any attacks.

Opening her eyes, proved to be a difficulty, but after a few attempts she was able to finally open them without right away closing them. Her head was still clouded, and all of her thoughts were fuzzy. The battle-Freya-Merlin-discovered-... Her child! The white dragon sensing that she was awake, came up to her. Though the white dragon could not speak, she spoke to to the woman in her mind as all magical creatures could.

"_Morgana, you should rest_!" The dragon said as forcefully yet motherly as she could.  
The woman chuckled, her little dragon was looking out for her! This thought made her smile for no matter how big and wise the dragon grew she would still be to her a little dragon that needed to be protected.

" Aithusa, where is my child?" She asked groggily, looking down to where it was supposed to be, but not finding it. The umbilical cord was neatly cut, and all the blood that was there before was now cleaned up. She frowned.

" _Morgana, she is fine. She is sleeping_." Aithusa, the dragon, told her as gently as she could. Knowing the raven haired woman would want to name and see her child as soon as possible, _" Would you like to name her?_"

"She? It is a she?" Morgana asked still through the pain and cloudy mind.

_" It is a girl, Morgana"_ the dragon said.

She already picked a name long ago, when she had just found out about her pregnancy in fact, but she was sure it was a boy, Riegor, was supposed to be his name, but now seeing her child which the dragon had just brought over, she knew no such name would do. Biting her lip, she racked her brain for a suitable name.

After a moment of indecision, she said with finality " Her name will be Emrya. For if Emrys is her father, and I, her mother, with the power and knowlegeof a High Priestess and of Emrys, she will destroy the Pen-dragons with her might for all of their evil to our kind "  
_" Emrya, a fitting name."_ The dragon nodded his agreement.

With her child lying down next to her, sleeping, and her being safe for the time being, she drifted off to sleep.

**So what did you guys think? I would love to hear from you. So please review and tell me.**


	2. The Morning After

**_Hey guys! This is my very first fan fiction, so please leave a review, and tell me what you think, or feel free to ask any questions you might have. _**

**_ DISCLAIMER: although I really wouldn't mind, I do not own Merlin or its characters._**

9 months ago

Merlin had a weird night. The battle of Camlaan was over. Morgana and her men were fleeing. Mordred, had wounded Arthur, but not fatally, and Arthur had killed Mordred. Even though Arthur had found about his magic the day before and had not taken it lightly, it was a good day. He had more explaining to do, that was for sure, but he was sure Arthur would forgive him. He had a strange dream too. Although it felt more real, than a dream, as if it had actually happened. It was too strange to be real.

That night when he went to bed, Freya was waiting for him, but that couldn't be true, she was dead! Freya confessed her love for him and he did the same, it was a night of passion, but somewhere through all of her questions about the war, her appearance started to change into Morgana, the witch. It was not a shock to merlin in the dream though, as if he were expecting Morgana to appear. he liked it. And when he had first started to kiss her she told him no, and during that night she had repeatedly asked him to stop and she had even cried out and even cried during that night. He didn't understand it.

Weird dream! But it definitely didn't feel it. When he had woken up,Freya or Morgana, whoever she was, was gone. The thing he didn't understand the most was that when her appearance changed, he wasn't shocked or scared or even angry, he was just happy that he had gotten his old Morgana back, even if it was just a dream.

Heading up to the palace to speak with the king, Arthur, he frowned deep in thought. All the towns people were creating a gap for him as walked like if he were a leper. Even the knights were avoiding him! Hoping Arthur would forgive him sooner, he sighed.  
He went into the throne room with Arthur sitting at his throne and Guinevere at his side.  
" Good day, my king" merlin said as reverently as he could.  
" You, sorcerer," Arthur spat venomously

_Nope, don't use my name!_ Merlin thought sarcastically as he smirked.  
Arthur softened his glare and now looked at his servant. A day or two ago he would have looked at his servant kindly, but not now. Now, his servant, his friend had gone from innocent to a sorcerer, and a powerful one at that. Even though Arthur knew the facts, he could not bring himself to execute his friend, even if he had magic. They had been through so much together, yet Merlin had not told him this. How could he trust him now? Arthur could feel his blood boiling.

" Fine, sorcerer, I have reached a decision, but first you must tell me your side of the story." Arthur said.

Merlin did as he was told, starting with the events from when he had just entered Camelot. When he had finished Gwen, the knights, some nobles, even Arthur looked impressed. Of course he left out some things, like last night, Freya, Kilgarah, and some others. Merlin smirked. Last night. Oh boy! Imagine what could happen if Arthur found out.

Arthur looked his servant in a new light a bit of wonder and of course he was still a little annoyed, this was Merlin's trial and all, and they were deciding whether they should execute him or not and still he's smirking.

" Thank you, Merlin," Arthur said in his most formal tone. Merlin looked up. _Arthur used my name, and not the ever wonderful name of sorcerer._ Merlin smirk now gave way to his silly halfway smile just thinking of Arthur. _Maybe he's forgiven me already._ Merlin thought with excitement.

"Now would you please give us a moment, sorcerer" Arthur spoke.  
As Merlin left the throne room, accompanied by Camelot's finest guards, Arthur knew he must make a decision. He had told Merlin and everyone else in the throne room that he had reached a decision but in reality he didn't know where to even begin. As the last of the people filed out and the doors finally closed leaving his wife and him alone, Arthur let out a long sigh.

"What are you going to do?" Guinevere asked Arthur with pleading eyes as if silently asking him to just forgive Merlin. But Arthur couldn't. The law was the law. He knew he could not condemn his one time servant and friend.

"I don't know, Gwen," He sighed again, still deep in thought. " I cannot execute him. I... I just don't know."

Guinevere looked down. She could not see how Merlin, of all people, Merlin was a sorcerer. It just wasn't possible. Yet, here he was. Even though he had magic, he, as far as he had said, had used magic only for the good of Camelot. She hoped whatever the sentence was, it wasn't death. Though she knew it was impossible, she wished he could somehow just pay a fine or a tax, and be done with this ordeal. Paying a fine because somebody was a sorcerer?! She almost laughed, had the situation not been so grave, at her thought.  
The king was almost pacing by now. He could not bring himself to execute his friend, but he couldn't just let this go. No, Merlin would have to go. Although the decision was not one he like he knew he had reached one.

" Let them in, I would like to voice my verdict now" Arthur said to the guard at the door while climbing back onto his throne.

The guard opened the door and soon the people filed in again. Merlin stood near the throne again, but this time in chains. He looked to Arthur.

" I, Arthur, king of Camelot, do hereby find do find you guilty of the crime of sorcery, for which the punishment is death."

Gasps were heard all around the throne room. Merlin looked on the verge of tears, and Gaius looked at Arthur in disbelief. Even Gwen managed to whisper to Arthur and say pleadingly, " Are you really sure there is nothing else we can do?"  
Arthur stood ignoring all the reactions in the room and continued, " But my time as king has taught me differently, and since this man has used magic, as we have all heard today, only for the good of Camelot, I hereby reduce his sentence to banishment. I expect you to gather your things and leave the city first thing tomorrow. Court dismissed."

**So what did you guys think? I'm thinking of alternating chapters between Morgana and Merlin's lives, what do you think? **

***Also if you have any ideas concerning the plot I would love to hear them**


	3. Two Weeks Later

**So here's the third chapter. Sorry for the long wait.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Merlin or its characters, but I do own all the rights to this plot and storyline.**

**WARNING: this chapter contains a more detailed description of Merlin and Morgana's night together. And implies things like rape. So this might be unsuitable for younger people. Please don't read if this type of thing makes you uncomfortable. **

* * *

**Two weeks later**

Morgana still could not believe what had happened that day, or night almost two weeks ago. Mordred had died, at the hand of Arthur Pendragon, yet Arthur had lived. Boy was he going to pay for killing him, her only human friend left in the world. And Emrys, she spat at him just thinking of his name, Emrys, he had healed Arthur just in the nick of time, but left his own kind, Mordred, to rot, and be made meat for the scavengers. Morgana when she had finally found his body, after a day of searching for it, it was her that had given him a proper burial.

Come to think of it Mordred wasn't the only one Emrys had left to rot. How many times had Emrys, after a fight, just left her to succumb to death? What, was he such a coward he couldn't kill her then? He was a traitor, a traitor to his kind. He had helped Arthur. How many times had he saved his life? But when she had literally begged him for help about her magic, what did he do? He poisoned her. She had foolishly told him her greatest secret, but he did not try to even help her.

Sure he had told her of the Druids, and then she had to go back to Camelot, her home then, and nightmare. Did he ever try to help her when she was petrified, that some nights she just would lie on her bed an cry, because she was so scared, did he ever try to help? No. He could have helped her and maybe even taught her magic. She would have almost willingly taken the poison, had she known she was the cause of the sleeping spell in Camelot, had he explained it to her. Did he ever think of that when he was fighting against her and saving Arthur? Apparently not, this, what happened to them, was inevitable. Emrys might be powerful, but he had little common sense. Didn't he see this could all have been avoided if he would have just explained things to her? Now she had no choice, none at all, she had to make them see just what they had done to her.

She smirked. Yes, that was it. In all her brooding she had come to the right conclusion. Emrys did have little common sense. And that precisely, was what she was going to use against him. She looked through her books and found the spell she wanted.

_"Ongief min bealuinwit ac æpuldre min scinn swá lufigenlice swá andfenge beón"_ She cast it and looked at herself in the mirror, and frowned she still saw herself. She cast it again. She still saw herself. As she looked at her book. Then she understood.

" The person who has cast this spell will still see themselves. Others on the other hand will see either who they want most, or who they trusted the most." She read aloud, still having difficulty with translating the last part.

"Aithusa, who do you see? " Morgana asked.

Aithusa looked at her as if she had gone mad, but still replied "Morgana it is still you."

She smiled flattered at the compliment Aithusa had unknowingly sent her way. She told Aithusa,her plan and where she was off to.

" Now remember, Aithusa, I'll be back in two days, so" Morgana looked her dragon, and she couldn't help but smile. "Don't look so neglected, I'll be back soon" Aithusa did not look less worried, in fact her tail and head hung even lower. "Look, when I get back I promise to make you your favorite rabbit stew. " she sighed. "I even promise to get you a box of potatoes. "

Aithusa visibly brightened, at this thought. What made the the dragon like raw potatoes to eat? Morgana thought she probably never understand that, but hey, if Aithusa liked them...

She saddled and bridled her horse. As she rode away she called out to Aithusa in her head,

"Hunt. I want some meat with my rabbit stew." She said just so she could hear Aithusa answer. "And take care, my sweet Aithusa".

"Take care of yourself, Morgana" was the only response Morgana heard.

She had ridden down to the city of Camelot. As she neared the gates she quickly prayed that her enchantment was working.

"What are you doing here?" The guard asked suspiciously. Morgana opened her mouth to try to find an answer and suddenly felt a peck on her cheek. She blushed.

"Wha..?"

"Shhh. We will meet at our usual spot yes? I have missed you my love."

Now she understood. He, because of her enchantment thought she was his lover.

"Yes, yes of course" She said smiling. She pulled up her hood even tighter so no one else would recognize her as their lover, or worse their wife. As she galloped down the familiar streets of her used to be home town, she easily found the place she had always kept her horse when she wanted a quick getaway. She turned into another and then yet another street until she was finally at her destination.

She cautiously walked into the home and hoped, no prayed Gaius was out. Breathing a sigh of relief, that no one was home she headed up to Merlin's, no Emrys's room. She seated herself on the windowsill and waited for him to come.

"Freya? How did you...?"

" I thought I might see you." Morgana chirped. Whoever this Freya person, he obviously trusted, maybe even loved her.

"That's impossible. You are dead. I bade you farewell myself."

Great. She had seen small problems in her plan, but she never imagined posing as a dead women. How was she going to talk herself out of this one now?

"Remember, you visited me?" She guessed, hoping she was right, and he visited this Freya's gravesite.

"Yes, when you gave me Excalibur,... But I also saw you when you gave me your gift, which I used one time to defeat Morgana. Surely you remember this?"

Morgana smiled as hard as she could. " Of course" her voice nearly squealed from excitement, but on the inside she was seething. Who was this woman that thwarted her plans from her grave? She was still searching for a way to explain herself to Emrys.

Merlin looked at Freya. She was still so beautiful. How he missed her. Freya. The Lady of the Lake. He was glad she was here however it happened. How did that Happen? She was dead! He waited for her to explain herself, which she seemed not inclined to do, so after a prolonged silence he asked.

"So... How did you come? Although he was glad she was here, he couldn't help but be at least a bit skeptical. The only dead person to come back was Lacelot, and even then he had been a shade, controlled by Morgana. But then, Freya had helped him before, after she died..., Maybe she could?

"It told you I would repay you by giving you a gift... right?"

"Yes.." He said now even more skeptically.

She sighed trying to calm down her already shaking nerves.

" Well, that was not my gift, that was only part of it. You see because of who I am"

"The Lady of the Lake?" Merlin interjected.

"Yes, the Lady of the Lake" She smiled. Words were spilling out of her mouth, but she still had no idea where she was going with them. " Because of who I am I can once every hundred years, come back to the world of the living." She almost bit her lip out of nervousness.

"That's it?"

She opened her mouth.

"That's wonderful!" He said incredulously."Freya you've no idea how much I miss you. I love you Freya! He came up to her and kissed her as hard as he could as of to illustrate.

She was stunned. "Yes well um... "

He embraced and kissed her again, his eyes flooding with joy. As she saw the joy in his eyes she almost felt bad about playing such a cruel trick on Merlin. No, he was not Merlin, he was Emrys. The Emrys who poisoned he, betrayed her, left her for dead how many times? Betrayed all magic itself, and most of all left his kin, Mordred, to rot. Morgana was trying to keep up the facade but she could feel her mask slipping.

"Are you okay? You look upset." Merlin jarred her.  
"Yes of course" She smiled through her teeth, gulped and then continued, " It's just that I only get to do this once in a long time and seeing how I have been dead for a while, I would kind of like to know about some of the current affairs."

" Yes, of course, I understand." He looked... Was that hurt? He looked almost hurt.

"Well?"

" Well, I defeated Morgana, well not Mogana per say but her armies. But in doing so I accidentally revealed my magic to Arthur. He saw me trying to healing him after his fight when he got stabbed."

"And how did he take it?" Morgana asked quite interested now.

" I don't know... He'll forgive me. I know he will." He said with worry. Then in a barely audible whisper he added, "He has to."

" Don't worry, Arthur will forgive you after he sees what you've done for him." She said. She chuckled. The day Arthur would ever be kind to magic was the day when she would forgive him for all Emrys had done to her, and that would be never.

"So, how many men died?"

"What?" He asked clearly confused. Why would Freya want to know that?

"How many men died?" She asked again.

"I don't know.. Freya, I've missed you so" He leaned forward to kiss her again.

"Please?" She tried to get away from him.

He did not listen to her. He kissed her again so passionately. Everything about her made Merlin make the most of the this night. Everything she said was so... It wanted make Merlin have her.

She did not like where this was going, not at all. Especially after what happened in her captivity with the Sarrum, she feared being close with others. It made her feel caged again. It reminded her of the Sarrum and all he had done. Although she tried not to look that way she was petrified.

* * *

Back in her hovel, Morgana frowned at her thoughts of half a month ago. She didn't like the next part of the night. The only part she cared about now was the information, which was next to worthless. Whatever happened that night happened, I guess. She had left long before Merlin ever woke and toke her horse, and then remembering her promise to Aithusa bought a box of potatoes from the last seller in the lower town and galloped into the night.

Aithusa looked up to her friend, sensing her distressing thoughts. She knew what they were about, so she didn't ask. She had seen the way Morgana had been the morning she came back.

Aithusa had come back that afternoon with six rabbits, an impressive feat for Aithusa, and had fallen asleep. When Morgan had come back she was crying. Not even grief stricken with her other friend's death, who Aithusa never liked, had she cried. Aithusa could barely imagine what had happened. The last time she had seen Morgana like this was when they were in captivity. So Aithusa had given her friend the rabbits after Morgana had taken care of the horse and sat down, and walked away grabbing a potato from the box.

_A Few Hours Later..._

Sleep finally came for Morgana. Even in her dreams she could not fully rest. She was having another vision. Aithusa looked up to her friend that was covered in sweat. Morgana bolted up right. Aithusa startled, almost jumped. Then she came up to her. Morgana was shaking, an after affect of the vision. She still could not believe what she saw. Aithusa's eyes bored into Morgana's, silently asking her what her vision was about.  
Morgana, shaking, gulped, trying to steady her voice.  
"I'm pregnant, Aithusa."

* * *

**So what did you guys think of that? I would really love your feedback.**

_**"Ongief min bealuinwit ac æpuldre min scinn swá lufigenlice swá andfenge beón"**_

**- Forgive my deceit, but make my appearance as lovable as can be.**

** Hope you enjoyed it! And don't forget to review!**


	4. Three Weeks After

**I am so SO sorry for not posting the chapter sooner. For the past 6 weeks I have been traveling. When I get back home I would like to work out a schedule to post chapters up every one or two weeks. Anyway if you enjoyed this please leave a review. I would love to hear your ideas/input. Also if anyone wants to help me proofread my rough drafts I would be very grateful. Please message me if you would like to. Thanks for reading!**

Chapter 3.  
After 3 weeks.

Merlin's rear end hurt. Really bad. Arthur would have teased him for being such a little girl. Merlin was trying hard to forget Camelot. It had been almost three weeks since he was banished from Camelot, and he couldn't help but miss the place. He had been wandering the country side for about two weeks and now, well now about a week ago had found a tiny little hovel, past the forests of Essitir.

He couldn't just stop thinking about that dream three weeks ago. It just didn't make any sense. Maybe it was a vision-Yes! That's what it was-a vision. Merlin thought intently. If this was what a vision felt like, well, he understood Morgana a lot better now. It was SO real... It haunted and stayed with him for the past weeks, he just couldn't shake it off, that sense of foreboding.

Morgana must have felt this way after her visions, he thought. He had always wondered what made Morgana, one of the strongest people he knew, break down so easily after a vision, but if her visions were even slightly like either this encounter or the one in the crystal cave, he understood. Even he, after his experience in he crystal cave, had asked Arthur for a couple days off, for some much needed alone time.

He felt like calling the Great Dragon, and asking him about this, but he couldn't just call the dragon because scared, little Merlin had a nightmare.

So he rode on. He found a hovel just outside the border of Camelot's kingdom. That was two weeks ago. He had never had so much free time. There was nothing to do! So he went riding.

When he had been riding for about an hour, he decided to hunt. Though Merlin had accompanied Arthur on his hunts, Merlin thought that it had always looked a lot easier than now. After his fourth attempt to try to catch a rabbit, he finally gave up.

"Á_bradwian!_" A bird fell lifelessly to the ground, as Merlin's eyes glowed golden for a moment. After Merlin, had took his bird, plucked it, and made a fire he began to roast it.

He soon rode back to the small abandoned hovel that he was now living out of. It more of a hut really. And although it was small, it more than enough space for Merlin. The oddest thing about it though was that it was just sitting there, on top of a barren cliff, as if waiting just for him. Inside a couple of chairs, a table, a stove, a bed, and then his favorite part- book shelves, filled with bookson magic. He wondered if the hovel used to belong to some sorcerer that had been beheaded during the Great Purge. The books were books on the history and origin of magic, the spells of dragons, and Sídhe magic, and much more. He wanted to try all the spells out, so after rekindling the fire he curled up with a book.

* * *

Arthur paced up and down the bedroom.

"Arthur would you come to bed already?" Guinevere asked.

" Gwen, if the only reason Morgana wanted to kill us all was because of Merlin, maybe we could still have the old Morgana back?" Arthur said to Guinevere still lost in his own world.

" Please Arthur, would you at least stop pacing. You're making me dizzy! "  
Arthur was hoping, grasping at something that make any part of his life better.

"Arthur and even if, and that's a big if, she would have still used magic. What would you have done banished her too? Besides the real reason, and you know this, Morgana became this way, is that magic corrupts people who use it." Guinevere tried to make him see reason.

"But what about the people that were born with it, Gwen, what about those?"

"You are taking Merlin's word that there are people like that. You don't know that! Merlin could have just as easily lied to you about that. "

"Gwen, you were Morgana's servant. You had to have known on point or another that her dreams were becoming reality, right? And when you did then confronted her And maybe, I don't know, helped her out somehow, right?"

Indeed, Guinevere had suspected, and she wondered many times what would have happened if she had been there for her friend. But she was too scared to have confronted Morgana, just like now she was too scared to even confront the possibility that magic was not completely evil. Too many things had been drilled into her as a child and if this was not true well then, she didn't know what was anymore.

" I don't know," was the only answer Guinevere gave. To be honest, she didn't, but did. Right now, she was just too tired to try to think about this. She laid down and sighed. So many things could have been different. If it wasn't for fate intervening Arthur might have been married to Morgana, and she might have been still a simple servant. Her father and brother might have made it. They would have never found out about Merlin's magic. That would have been the perfect world. Maybe, maybe she might have even married Merlin. Although she never admitted it when Merlin had just come, she did have some sort of feeling for him. That would have been so — magical. She smiled at her own inside joke.

Arthur yawned. Maybe Guinevere was right, maybe he should go to bed. After all he did have a knighting ceremony in the morning. He slowly crawled into bed as if in a daze and tried tout aside all thoughts of Morgana, magic, and Merlin. Try as he might he couldn't and sighing he kissed Gwen. She moaned as and pulled away. Arthur thought she looked peaceful as she slept. Quietly, Arthur blew out the candle that was already halfway gone, and fell into a fitful sleep.

* * *

**Á****_bradwian - to kill, or slay_**


End file.
